Diagnosed with Grade 1 strain, the veteran left-hander isn’t expected to return until mid-to-late August, however he told reporters Saturday that he doesn’t think that timetable is realistic. In a good way.

“It doesn’t seem realistic to me at all, but I haven’t gotten on the
mound,” Pettitte said. “When I get on the mound, I’ll be able to say,
and hopefully I won’t have any setbacks.”

“I mean, I feel good,” Pettitte said. “I’m not having any problems at all.”

It’s not immediately clear when Pettitte will begin throwing off a mound, but he is scheduled to fly to Tampa on Monday to continue his rehab. The 37-year-old left-hander is eligible to return from the DL on August 2, but Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the team plans to take a cautious approach with Pettitte, as they don’t want this to be a recurring problem down the stretch.

Sergio Mitre, Pettitte’s temporary replacement in the rotation, gave up seven runs — five earned — over 4 1/3 innings in a loss to the Royals this afternoon.

Former Mets catcher Johnny Monell signed a contract with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, per a report by Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. The 30-year-old originally struck a deal with the NC Dinos on Thursday, but the deal appeared to fall through at the last minute, according to Cotillo’s unnamed source.

Monell last surfaced for the Mets during their 2015 run, batting a dismal .167/.231/.208 with two extra bases in 52 PA before the club DFA’d him to clear space for Bartolo Colon. While he’s had difficulty sticking at the major league level, he’s found a higher degree of success in the minor league circuit and holds a career .271 average over a decade of minor league play. He played exclusively in Triple-A Las Vegas during the 2016 season, slashing .276/.336/.470 with 19 home runs and a career-high 75 RBI in 461 PA.

The veteran backstop appears to be the second MLB player to join the KT Wiz roster this offseason, as right-hander Donn Roach also signed with the club last month on a one-year, $850,000 deal.

Brewers’ right-hander Phil Bickford received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for a drug of abuse, per the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin. This is the second time Bickford has been suspended for recreational drug use, as he was previously penalized in 2015 after testing positive for marijuana prior to the amateur draft.

Bickford was selected by the Giants in the first round of the 2015 draft and was later dealt to the Brewers for lefty reliever Will Smith at the 2016 trade deadline. He finished his 2016 campaign in High-A Brevard County, pitching to a 3.67 ERA, 10.0 K/9 rate and 5.0 BB/9 over 27 innings.

Two other suspensions were handed down on Friday, one to Toronto minor league right-hander Pedro Loficial for a positive test for metabolites of Stanozolol and one to Miami minor league outfielder Casey Soltis for a second positive test for drugs of abuse. Loficial will serve a 72-game suspension, while Soltis will serve 50 games. All three suspensions are due to start at the beginning of the 2017 season for each respective minor league team.

We are very disappointed to learn of Phil’s suspension, but we fully support the Minor League Baseball Drug Prevention and Testing Program and its enforcement by the Commissioner’s Office. Phil understands he made a mistake, and we fully anticipate that he will learn from this experience.